Does my son have a milk allergy?

Liz - posted on 01/01/2009
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My son is a year old, and we've been switching him over to milk. He was breastfed up until about 2 weeks ago, but in the last month or so we've been supplementing with formula. We've started by doing bottles with 1/2 formula and 1/2 milk, and he's been having some diarrhea. He isn't going more frequently, and he doesn't act like his stomach hurts. He just has looser stools then normal. Has anyone had this happen? Is this normal, or do you think that it could be an allergy?

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Donna - posted on 01/31/2009

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When your switching like that, the transition should only be a few days (like 3).

I wouldn't use formula if you've been using breastmilk that will cause the stool problem. I just switched my son to milk from breastmilk and I went straight to warm milk. He adjusted to it well, he was always having loose stool b/c of the breastmilk. My oldest son had a milk allergy when I switched him to milk, he had alot of diareah and it changed drastically in color and wouldn't go away. Thats when we gave him soymilk. He eventually grew out of it.

i'm SURE it's just the change in formula. anytime their diet changes, so does their poop consistency...our son was allergic to milk formula (found out around month 2). he would just wince and whimper and act like he was having the worst stomach cramps...always fussy - thought he had colic. the minute we switched him to prosobee soy, his life (and ours) changed almost immediately. i would think that he would have a bit more "fuss" to him if he were allergic. he might not be taking to the brand of formula you have him on. even when we switched strohm off of milk based, it took trying a couple of different ones to see a change in his stools and personality (for the better). good LUCK!

Hey there! My little one has dairy,e gg and nut allergies so hopefully I know where I am coming from when talking about reactions. If you little one can tolerate cows milk on his hands without coming out in hives or swelling, then try a small amount on his lip - again if no reaction (small spots, swelling, itchiness) then try mixing cows milk with something really bland that you know your baby has eaten before e.g. quinoa or baby rice. Mix it into a paste and let baby have a taste. Again, keep an eye out for reactions - up to 1 hour before hives show sometimes. If he is fine - no swelling, hoevs, itchiness or eczema deterioration then it is likely that he is not allergic. It is possible he has a milk intolerance (human baby's are not designed to digest milk of other animals and so this issue is not uncommon) and if this is the case, you can consult with your GP. There are two schools of thought - avoidance altogether and reintroduction of the offending food group at a later age. OR introducing slowly witht he least offending dairy product - highly processed are less likely to cause allergic/intolerance issues as the protein structures which children normally react to have already been altered by the processing of the food. Now I don't say feed the children junk though! But find something that has milk product in it (e.g. jar of baby food) which has gone through pasteurisation and processing and see how his bowels cope with that?

If it keeps it up, I would talk to the pediatrician about it. My husband is allergic to milk. There is a difference between being allergic to milk, and being lactose intolerant. If the diarrhea gets worse by much I would call. but just give it some time, he's probably just adjusting. Your doc could tell you how long to wait. Hope it gets better, Milk allergy really sucks.

this happened with my older daughter when i tried switching her to milk at 1. took about 3 months, but she was ultimately fine and tolerated milk fine. as if the girls aren't opposite enough, my 1 year old is becoming constipated from milk! who can figure!

Typically when you change your baby's milk, whether it be breast, formula, or cow's milk, you baby will have a change in stools for a week or two. It is just his body's response to the change. If it continues though, I would check with your pediatrician.

I have to first assume when youa say half "milk" you mean breastmilk. Then I would suggest changing formulas. Hydrolyzed formulas have cow's milk proteins that are broken down into small particles so they're less allergenic than the whole proteins in regular formulas.